JP2003226044A - Printer - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To solve the problem of deterioration of the printing quality due to drastic sagging by at least a predetermined amount during the printing operation of the tube fed by the feeding unit at the time the top end 41 is contacted with a feeding roller 1 with the tube 4 fed always with a certain amount of sagging by a feeding unit mounted on the upstream side of the printer 1 in the case a tube 4 is set on the printer 1 for executing a printing starting operation, a conveyance roller 15 feeds the top end 41 of the tube 4 to an installation position of a top end detection sensor 18, and then feeds the same backward by a certain amount to a printing starting position. <P>SOLUTION: While feeding the top end 41 to the printing starting position, the sagging amount is controlled so as not to exceed the predetermined amount by providing the feeding speed of the feeding unit at a low level with a small sagging amount. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2003,JPO

Description

Detailed Description of the Invention

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a printing device that prints on at least the surface of a tube.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art A tube may be supplied in a state of being wound on a large reel having a diameter of several tens of centimeters, and the reel is held by a stand so that it can be freely rotated with its central axis being horizontal, Must print while pulling the tube out of the reel.

Since the tube is wound around a large reel in this way, a large torque must be applied to the reel to start the reel, especially at the start of printing. However, especially when the printing apparatus is a portable type, a large motor cannot be mounted as a motor for driving the carry roller. Therefore, the conveyance force of the conveyance roller is insufficient, slippage occurs between the tube and the conveyance roller, or the conveyance roller cannot rotate, which causes a problem that the tube cannot be reliably pulled out from the reel.

Therefore, there is used a feeding device which feeds the tube to the carrying mechanism by sandwiching the tube with a feeding roller in synchronism with the carrying by a carrying mechanism provided in the printing apparatus. This feeding roller pulls out the tube from the reel, but if there is little slack in the tube between the feeding roller and the feeding roller, the torque when pulling out the tube from the reel will affect the feeding roller. The tube is fed to the feed roller at the feeding speed in a high-speed operation state that is faster than the feed speed, and the tube is bent between the feed roller and the feed roller so that fluctuations in torque and large torque do not affect the feed roller. The transport speed is stabilized.

Since the amount of slack in the tube is secured when the high-speed operation state is continued for a certain period, the feeding speed is set to a low-speed operation state that is slower than the conveying speed, and the amount of slack is gradually reduced to allow the feeding roller and the feeding roller to be fed. The tube is controlled so that it always sags with respect to the roller. When the amount of slack is equal to or less than the predetermined amount, the feeding speed is set to the high speed operation state again to increase the amount of slack.

As described above, since the feeding device has to operate in synchronization with the operation of the printing device, the feeding device and the printing device are connected to each other, for example, by a communication cable to communicate with each other, and the operation of both is performed. Are configured for synchronization.

On the other hand, the surface of the tube is curved in a cylindrical shape.
It is necessary to flatten the tube so that the surface is as flat as possible. Therefore, in a printing apparatus that prints on a tube, a feed roller is provided on the downstream side of the print head, and the feed roller bends the tube in the conveying direction so that the tube follows the platen roller. The platen roller is provided close to the print head, and when the tube is moved along the platen roller by the feed roller, the tube is flattened along the platen roller from a position upstream of the print head. Has been done.

The tube is flattened by being bent along the platen roller by the feed roller. Since the feed roller is located on the transport direction from the transport roller to the print head, when the tube is newly set, the tip of the tube comes into contact with the platen roller and the transport direction is bent toward the print head. The conveying direction is forcibly bent in the opposite direction by hitting the feed roller.

[0009]

When setting the tube in the printing apparatus, the end of the tube is pulled out from the reel by hand, and the tube is set at a position where it is nipped by each of the feeding roller and the conveying roller. At that time, the tip of the tube is set so as to be located on the upstream side of the print head and between the transport roller and the print head.

When the print start button is pressed in that state, the printing apparatus automatically feeds the tube slightly and puts it in a state of being pressed against the platen roller by the feed roller.

When the tube is manually set, the slack of the tube is not generally secured between the conveying roller and the feeding roller, and the amount of slack is less than a predetermined amount. Then, as described above, at the same time as pressing the print start button, the feeding speed becomes a high-speed operation state,
It is controlled to bend the tube between the transport roller and the feed roller.

However, when a printing start operation is performed with a relatively thick tube newly set, the tip of the tube comes into contact with the platen roller and hits the feed roller as described above, forcing the conveyance direction. Can be bent into. In this way, when the tube is transported in the forward direction from the upstream side to the downstream side in the cueing process of transporting the tip of the tube to the print start position downstream of the print head at the time of printing start, the tip of the tube is moved to the platen roller. Until it is pinched by the feed roller and platen roller,
The platen roller and the feed roller act as resistance to the tube conveyance. When resistance against tube transportation occurs, the transportation rollers slip and the tube is not transported.

Even if the tube is not conveyed due to the slip of the conveying roller, the feeding roller feeds the tube at a high speed operation state. Therefore, especially when the cueing process is started at the high speed operation state of the feeding roller, the tube is conveyed. Slip will occur between the rollers and the tube will sag more than a preset amount.

If the tube bends by a certain amount or more, the tube may be bent or abut against the feeding device or other parts, so that the tube may not be stably conveyed and print quality may be deteriorated.

Therefore, in view of the above problems, the present invention provides a printing apparatus which does not warp more than necessary at the start of printing even if a new tube is set while the feeding apparatus is used. Is an issue.

[0016]

In order to solve the above problems, a printing apparatus according to the present invention is a printing apparatus for printing at least a tube, which comprises a printing head and a platen roller facing the printing head. A transport mechanism for transporting the tube between the head and the platen roller is provided on the upstream side of the print head, and the tube tip is transported from the upstream side of the print head to the print start position on the downstream side of the print head. In the case where there is a mechanism that resists the transportation of the tube, the slack amount detected by the slack sensor that detects the slack amount of the tube between the feeding device that feeds the tube to the transportation mechanism and the transportation mechanism is The feeding speed of the feeding device is slower than the feeding speed of the feeding mechanism so that the amount of slack becomes constant when the amount becomes less than a predetermined amount. Control means for accelerating for a certain period of time to a high speed operation state, and a slack sensor that invalidates the detection result of the slack sensor until the tip of the tube is conveyed to the print start position when the tube is newly set. It is characterized in that invalid means is provided.

When a new tube is set, a cueing process is carried out in which the tip of the tube is conveyed to the printing start position. However, since the printing start position is set downstream of the print head, the tip of the tube is in the middle of movement. It collides with the platen roller and the feed roller and becomes a resistance against the conveyance of the tube until it is nipped by the feed roller and the platen roller. Therefore, slippage may occur between the transport roller and the tube.However, because the slack sensor is disabled while the tip of the tube moves to the print start position, the feed roller does not enter the high-speed operation state. The tube does not bend more than necessary between the feeding roller and the feeding roller.

A tip detection sensor for detecting the tip of the tube is provided downstream of the feed roller, and when the tube is newly set, the tube is conveyed until the tip of the tube is detected by the tip detection sensor to detect the tip. After that, in the printing apparatus that conveys the tip of the tube backward to the print start position, the prohibition unit prohibits at least until the tip of the tube is detected by the tip detection sensor.

The slack detecting means for detecting the amount of slack may be provided in the feeding device, and the feeding device may be detachably attached.

[0020]

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring to FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 is a printing apparatus, and a separate feeding apparatus 2 is detachably attached to the printing apparatus 1. 3 is a reel around which a long tube 4 is wound, and is rotatably held by a stand 31.

A cassette mounting portion 11 is provided on the upper surface of the printing apparatus 1. When the tube 4 is set in the printing apparatus 1, the holder 5 is set in the cassette mounting portion 11 in advance.

The printing apparatus 1 can print on a tape other than the tube 4 or another medium. The media other than the tubes 4 are housed in the respective cassettes 6, and the cassette 6 housing the media to be printed is set in the cassette mounting portion 6 instead of the holder 5. Then, the medium drawn from the cassette 6 is printed.

Referring to FIG. 2, the cassette mounting portion 11
A print head 12 and a platen roller 13 facing the print head 12 are attached near the print head 12. The tube 4 is printed on the surface in a state of being sandwiched between the print head 12 and the platen roller 13, and then conveyed to the downstream on the left side in the drawing.

A feed roller 14 is provided downstream of the print head 12.
The printed tube 4 is forcibly bent in the conveying direction by the feed roller 14, is conveyed along the platen roller 13, and is then ejected from the printing apparatus.

On the upstream side of the print head 12, there is provided a pair of transport rollers 15 as a transport mechanism, and the tube 4
The print head 12 is sandwiched between the transport rollers 15.
Be transported to. Also. A medium sensor 16 is provided on the upstream side of the transport roller 15. This medium sensor 1
Reference numeral 6 is an optical sensor including a light projecting portion and a light receiving portion,
When the medium is located between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit, the light emitted from the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit is blocked to detect that the medium is located between the light emitting unit and the light receiving unit. To do.

A cassette sensor 17 consisting of a micro switch is attached to the cassette mounting portion 11, and when the cassette 6 is set in the cassette mounting portion 11, the cassette sensor 17 is turned on. A recess (not shown) is formed on the bottom surface of the holder 5 so that the cassette sensor 17 does not turn on even when the holder 5 is set in the cassette mounting portion 11.

An optical tip detection sensor 18, similar to the medium sensor 16, is provided further downstream of the feed roller 14. When the tube 4 is newly set, the tube 4 is conveyed by the conveying roller 15, and the tip 41 of the tube reaches the installation position of the tip detection sensor 18, the light inside the tip detection sensor 18 is blocked, so the tip 41 Has reached the installation position of the tip detection sensor 18.

Further downstream of the tip detecting sensor 18, there is provided a cutter 19 which moves back and forth in the vertical direction in this figure. When the printed portion is conveyed to the position of the cutter 19, the conveyance of the tube 4 is temporarily stopped, and the cutter 19 moves upward in the figure to cut the tube 4. It should be noted that the cutting by the cutter 19 can be freely selected from full cutting that completely cuts the tube 4 and half cutting that leaves a part.

Referring to FIG. 3, the feeding device 2 is provided with a pair of feeding rollers 21. The lid 2 of this feeding device 2
When 6 is opened, the space between the feeding rollers 21 is opened as shown in the figure,
It becomes easy to pass the tube 4 between both the feeding rollers 21.
Then, when the lid 26 is closed, both feeding rollers 21 come close to each other in cooperation with the operation, and clamp the tube 4 with a predetermined stress.

Reference numeral 22 denotes a slack roller for turning on a slack sensor composed of a micro switch (not shown). When the lid 26 is opened, the slack roller 22 is forcibly retracted to the position shown in the drawing and does not come into contact with the tube 21. When the lid 26 is closed, the withdrawal is released and the tube 4 is laterally contacted with a predetermined biasing force. The urging force is set to be relatively small, and the tube 4 will not bend due to the urging force.

When the slack roller 22 is in contact with the tube 4 and the tube 4 is deflected by an appropriate amount, the slack roller 2
2 does not turn on the slack sensor, but the slack sensor is turned on when the slack amount of the tube 4 becomes equal to or less than a predetermined amount. Then the slack sensor is turned on and the tube 4
It is detected that the slack amount of the slack is less than or equal to a predetermined amount.

A stay 23 for connecting to the printing device 1 is projected on a side portion of the feeding device 2, and the feeding device 2 is detachably attached to the printing device 1 by this stay 23. Then, when the feeding device 2 is attached to the printing device 1, the connector 25 provided at the tip of the communication cable 24 is inserted into the connector opened on the side surface of the printing device 1, and between the printing device 1 and the feeding device 2. I tried to communicate.

Referring to FIG. 4, the printing apparatus 1 includes a control unit 1
a is provided, and the signals from the medium sensor 16, the cassette sensor 17, and the tip detection sensor 18 are input to the respective control units 1a. Then, the control unit 1a controls the operation of the drive motor 10 incorporated in the printing apparatus 1 according to a preset program. The driving force of the drive motor 10 is transmitted to the platen roller 13, the feed roller 14, and the transport roller 15 via a predetermined transmission mechanism. Therefore, these platen roller 13 and feed roller 1
4. The transport rollers 15 are driven in synchronization with each other.

The control unit 1a also communicates with the control unit 2a built in the feeding device 2 via the communication cable 24. The control unit 2a includes a micro switch 22a and a feeding roller 2 which are turned on by the slack roller 22.
A drive motor 20 for driving 1 is connected.

Referring to FIG. 5, when the tube 4 is newly set and printing on the tube 4 is started, first, B1 is set.
The cueing process shown in is performed. In this cueing step, the tip 41 of the tube 4 is moved to a predetermined print start position.
Then, when the tip end 41 of the tube 4 is moved to the print start position, the printing process shown in B2 is performed.

When the tube 4 is newly set, the tip 41 of the tube 4 is located upstream of the print head 12 and the vicinity of the front end 41 of the tube 4 is sandwiched by the transport rollers 15. When a print start instruction is issued in that state, the rotation speed of the drive motor 20 is not increased even if the micro switch 22a is turned on, and the tube 4 is fed in the forward direction at a constant speed ( S1). Therefore, even if the slack of the tube 4 between the transport roller 15 and the feeding roller 21 decreases, the control for increasing the feeding speed of the feeding roller 21 to increase the amount of slack is not performed.

Next, the transport roller 15 transports the tube 4 in the forward direction at a predetermined speed. The transport speed at this time does not have to be the same as the transport speed at the time of printing, but in the present embodiment, the tube 4 is at the same speed as the transport speed at the time of printing.
Was decided to be transported. The tip 41 of the tube 4 contacts the platen roller 13, and the transport direction of the tube 4 is once bent to the print head 12 side. When the tube 4 is further conveyed, the tip end 41 collides with the feed roller 14, is returned to the platen roller 13 side by the rotation of the feed roller 14, and is then sandwiched between the feed roller 14 and the platen roller 13,
Further transported. When the tip end 41 of the tube 4 reaches the installation position of the tip end detection sensor 18, the forward conveyance is stopped (S3).

The fact that the tip 41 has reached the installation position of the tip detecting sensor 18 means that the tip 41 is the platen roller 1.
3 and the feed roller 14 are completely nipped, and it means that the platen roller 13 and the feed roller 14 do not collide again, so that the micro switch 22a that was disabled until then is enabled (S4).

Subsequently, the conveying roller 15 is rotated in the reverse direction by a predetermined amount, and the tube 4 is conveyed in the reverse direction (S5).
The leading end 41 is the feed roller 14 and the platen roller 1.
When the state immediately before being separated from 3 is returned to, the conveyance in the reverse direction is stopped (S6, S7). This completes the cueing step B1. In the present embodiment, the micro switch 22a, which is the slack sensor, is validated after stopping the forward transport, but the micro switch 22a may be validated after step 7 at which the reverse transport is stopped.

When the tip 41 of the tube 4 is moved to the printing start position in this manner, the printing process starts. In the printing step B2, first, the tube 4 is conveyed as it is to secure the front margin, and then the tube 4 is conveyed at the printing speed and the printing process is performed until the end of printing (S8, S9).

The details of the printing process are shown in FIG. Printer 1
When the cassette sensor 17 detects that the cassette 6 containing a medium other than the tube 4 is set (S21), the unit shifts to the single print mode (S22).
In the single print mode, the printing apparatus 1 is a mode in which printing is performed independently, and even if the power switch of the feeding apparatus 2 is turned on and the communication cable 24 is connected to the printing apparatus 1, the feeding apparatus 2 operates. Is stopped, the operation of the drive motor 20 that drives the feeding roller 21 is prohibited, and the feeding roller 21 is not rotated while being held in the stopped state.

On the contrary, when the holder 5 is set instead of the cassette 6 (S21), the process proceeds to S23, and the counter is first reset. This counter measures the operating time of the feeding roller 21 by counting the number of pulses output to the drive motor 20 that drives the feeding roller 21. Resetting the counter then monitors the condition of the sag sensor. When the micro switch 22a, which is the slack sensor, is off, the tube 4 is deflected by a predetermined amount or more, so the feeding roller 21
Feeds the tube 4 at a speed slower than the feeding speed by the feeding roller 15 (S24).

When the printing is continued as it is, the conveying speed is faster than the feeding speed, so that the slack of the tube 4 is gradually reduced, and the micro switch 22a which is the slack sensor is turned on. Then, the rotation speed of the feeding roller 21 is increased so that the feeding speed of the feeding roller 21 is faster than the feeding speed of the feeding roller 15, and a high-speed operation state is set (S26).

When the operating state of the feeding roller 21 is switched to the high-speed operating state, measurement of the operating time of the feeding roller 21 by the counter is started until the counted pulse number reaches a preset value and counts up. The high speed operation state is continued (S27, S28). Then, after the feeding roller 21 rotates for a predetermined time in the high speed operation state, S24
Then, the rotation speed of the feeding roller 21 is returned to the low speed operation state, and the low speed operation state is maintained until the micro switch 22a is turned on again.

By the way, the stop command is constantly monitored during printing. This stop command is output not only when printing is completed but also when the conveyance of the tube 4 is temporarily stopped during printing. Then, when a stop command is issued (S3
1) Judge whether it is a stop command due to the end of printing or a stop command due to a temporary stop other than the end of printing such as cutting by the cutter 19 (S32), and if it is a stop command due to the end of printing, all information is cleared once. Then, it is decided to wait for a new print start instruction. Further, when the stop command is a temporary one other than the end of printing, the printing is restarted after the stop command is released without resetting the counter.

The determination in step S32 is based on the excitation state of the drive motor 20 that drives the feeding roller 21. The drive motor 20 is a stepping motor, and when a stop command is issued, the power supply to the drive motor 20 is stopped and the drive motor 20 is not excited, but when it is temporarily stopped, the rotation phase of the drive motor 20 is maintained as it is. Then, the drive motor 20 remains excited. Therefore, when a stop command is issued, the excitation state of the drive motor 20 is checked to determine whether the end of printing or another cause.

In this embodiment, the cutter 19 cuts the tube completely or half-cut after the printing is completed, but in addition to this, the tube conveyance is temporarily stopped and a hole is punched using a punch. Alternatively, the overcoat agent may be sprayed.

In the present embodiment, which of the holder 5 and the cassette 6 is set is automatically detected to determine the type of the set medium. However, the type of the medium to be printed is manually operated. It may be configured to input by.

[0049]

As is apparent from the above description, according to the present invention, the feeding speed does not become the high-speed operation state until the tube is newly set and the tip of the tube moves to the predetermined printing start position. As a result, the tube does not flex more than necessary between the conveying roller and the feeding roller, and therefore deterioration of printing quality due to excessive slack can be prevented.

[Brief description of drawings]

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a configuration of an embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a plan view of a cassette mounting portion.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing the outer appearance of the feeding device.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram showing a control system.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart showing an operation at the time of starting.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing an operation during printing.

[Explanation of symbols]

1 printing device 2 feeder 3 reel 4 tubes 12 print head 13 Platen roller 14 Feed roller 18 Tip detection sensor 21 Feeding roller 22 Slack Roller 24 communication cable

Claims (3)

[Claims] 1. A printing apparatus for printing at least a tube, comprising a print head and a platen roller facing the print head, and a transport mechanism for transporting the tube between the print head and the platen roller. If there is a mechanism that is provided on the upstream side and that resists the transport of the tube from the upstream side of the print head to the printing start position on the downstream side of the print head, the tube is When the amount of slack detected by the slack sensor that detects the amount of slack in the tube between the feeding device that feeds the transport mechanism and the transport mechanism is less than or equal to a predetermined amount, the slack amount of the feeding device becomes The control means for increasing the feeding speed from the low speed operation state, which is slower than the transfer speed by the transfer mechanism, to the high speed operation state, which is higher than the transfer speed, and a new tube The printing apparatus is provided with slack sensor invalidating means for invalidating the detection result of the slack sensor until the tip of the tube is conveyed to the printing start position when the slack sensor is pushed. 2. A tip detection sensor for detecting the tip of the tube is provided downstream of the feed roller, and when the tube is newly set, the tube is conveyed until the tip of the tube is detected by the tip detection sensor to detect the tip. 2. The printing according to claim 1, wherein when the tip of the tube is conveyed backward to the printing start position, the prohibition means prohibits at least until the tip of the tube is detected by the tip detection sensor. apparatus. 3. The slack detecting means for detecting the amount of slack is provided in the feeding device, and the feeding device is detachably attachable.
Alternatively, the printing apparatus according to claim 2.